EU local statement
Somalilandsun – Today, on the occasion of the European and World Day against the Death Penalty, the EU Special Envoy to Somalia, Michele Cervone d’Urso, and EU Member States reiterate their strong opposition to the use of capital punishment.
The EU considers capital punishment to be a cruel and inhuman practice, which fails to provide deterrence to criminal behaviour and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity. Any miscarriage of justice – which can occur in any legal system – is irreversible.
The EU welcomes the abolitionist trend worldwide, and note the ever decreasing number of countries applying capital punishment in Africa.
However, there are a few countries which still apply and implement the death penalty, including Somalia. The Somali military courts still carry out rapid executions and try defendants for a broad range of crimes outside of their jurisdiction, notably common crimes against civilians.
The EU Special Envoy to Somalia, Michele Cervone d’Urso, and the EU Member States Heads of Missions call upon the Federal Government of Somalia to ensure that its civilians are tried before civilian courts and to implement the 2012 UN General Assembly resolution it supported which urges UN member states to establish a moratorium on executions, with a view to abolishing the death penalty.
This autumn, the 69th General Assembly will vote on the 5th Resolution on the Universal Moratorium of the Death Penalty, tabled by the EU. The EU and its Member States urge Somalia to reconfirm its support for the resolution as it did in 2010 and 2012.
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